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The Network for Building Peace has presented the “Goran Bubalo” award for contribution to peace, equality, and justice to Denis Dzidic, director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH.
The committee for the award, which is named after the prominent peace activist who died in 2020, stated that it was giving the award to Dzidic for his long-standing work in investigative journalism and contribution to media freedom.
“As personal as this award is, my work would not be possible without the people I work with,” Dzidic said during the award ceremony held in Mostar on the occasion of the International Day of Peace.
“It means an incredibly lot to me that the nomination was made by people with whom I work every day,” Dzidic said, also thanking the Network for Building Peace as the award organiser.
When selecting the winners of this peace award, the nominees’ achievements in the year prior to receiving the award are taken into account, along with their ongoing contribution to improving human rights, preserving and building peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Radenko Udovcic, project manager of the Network for Building Peace, said that this recognition was given to people who had made an important contribution in Bosnia through their work.
“They reconciled, connected, offered solutions, and even did something in terms of cultural and political creative activity, like making some theatre plays that filled auditoriums and positively influenced public opinion,” he explained.
Udovcic says that every individual in Bosnia has the opportunity to get this award regardless of which part of the country they come from or their political affiliation, as long as they have done something to connect people.
The award was established in 2013, and was named after Goran Bubalo in 2020, in memory of the late founder and president of the Network for Building Peace.
During the ceremony in Mostar, Dzidic stated that he met Bubalo as a young journalist, when he had just started working on reconciliation and transitional justice topics.
“A few years later, when I was invited to a working group on the media and transitional justice on a project together with him, I talked to him for a long time about what I thought about the challenges of reporting on war crimes. He said: ‘Friend…’ and went on to build my idea. He made it infinitely better. But this was the first time I felt heard while dealing with the topic of my interest,” Dzidic said.
On Saturday, the Network also gave an award for continuous humanitarian work in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Pomozi.ba Association, which was accepted by project manager Midhad Brkan.
“We at Pomozi.ba believe that humanity has no borders, that empathy knows no differences, that small actions can initiate great changes. This award motivates us further to persist in this mission,” Brkan said.
International Peace Days were held in Mostar this year again. During events that lasted three days, round tables, debates, poetry evenings, and performances were organised, all containing peace as a common theme.
